batten

  1. Verb.  (intransitive) To become better; improve in condition, especially by feeding.
  2. Verb.  (intransitive) To thrive by feeding; grow fat; feed oneself gluttonously.
  3. Verb.  (intransitive) To thrive, prosper, or live in luxury, especially at the expense of others; fare sumptuously.
  4. Verb.  (intransitive) To gratify a morbid appetite or craving; gloat.
  5. Verb.  (transitive) To improve by feeding; fatten; make fat or cause to thrive due to plenteous feeding.
  6. Noun.  A thin strip of wood used in construction to hold members of a structure together or to provide a fixing point.
  7. Noun.  (nautical) A long strip of wood, metal, fibreglass etc used for various purposes aboard ship, especially one inserted in a pocket sewn on the sail in order to keep the sail flat.
  8. Noun.  In stagecraft, a long pipe, usually metal, affixed to the ceiling or fly system in a theater.
  9. Noun.  The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.
  10. Verb.  (nautical) to fasten or secure a hatch etc using battens.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.